Thursday needs jangle like Sunday needs a weekend extender. It’s something to brighten your just-past-midweek spirits, put a little sparkle in your step, and turn up the corners of those pursed lips.
The Maureens emerged from Utrech, Netherlands in 2015 with an amazing record, Bang the Drum, a album brimming with catchy tunes slathered in delicate harmonies. Last year the band teased fans with bimonthly single releases that promised even greater things. Now what is probably my most anticipated album of 2019 has arrived and it is nothing short of stupendous! Something In The Air kicks off with the three 2018 singles, definitely a solid start, with “4AM” and “Twenty Years for the Company” both vibing a strong Teenage Fanclub jangle. But I also hear an older set of influences on tracks like “Turn the Page” and “Something in the Air,” very Crosby Stills Nash and the Byrds respectively. Other highlights for me include the bittersweet “Valentine,” “Wake Up,” and the ear wormy “Can’t Stop.” But drop your needle anywhere on this record and you won’t go wrong. This is a band in full control of their ouvre.
From the moment I heard the fat jangle anchoring “Nervous Man” from the rather mysterious The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness I knew I was on to something special. Now that we know that TBWTPN is Andrew Taylor from Dropkick and Gonzalo Marcos of El Palacio de Linares the song’s quality really is no surprise. Dead Calm is their first full length release and it delivers on the promise of that first stellar single. Jangle permeates every inch of this record, perfectly showcasing some strong songwriting. This is evident right from the start with hooky, guitar-run heavy “TBWTPN,” which cleverly re-uses the song title from The Feelies that inspired this band’s own name. From there it’s one very pleasant tune after another: “Anything At All,” “Close the Doors,” and the more country-ish “Southern Words.” This album’s a let-it-run-through soundtrack of good times.
Jeff Shelton’s The Well Wishers have a new two-sided single out that contains a killer original song and an impressive cover. Check out the ringing guitar hooks on “Feelin Fine.” Folks, this is the Matthew Sweet single we’ve all been waiting for! Jeff’s spelling might be spotty, but his ear for candy-coated hooks is spot on. Meanwhile for the B side Jeff decided to cover Fleetwood Mac’s “Second Hand News.” Ouch! That is one tall order as Buckingham’s vocals alone are nearly impossible to match or replace in any listener’s sense of what the song should sound like. But Shelton manages to pull it off, mixing just enough ragged DIY charm with his professional chops to give his version its own identity. Is this a teaser for a fab new album? We can only hope so.
Chicago’s The Embyros lean heavily on a Teenage Fanclub/Byrds sound on their new extended singles project, Singles Club Volume 1, particularly “Wasting All Your Time.” The two other tracks here will also delight jangle ears. But why stop there? The band’s 2018 album Open the Kimono is chock full of indie pop rock treats. “Circleville” has an unpolished indie charm while “Wake Up Screaming” reminds me of that smooth California sound the Popravinas have going on their recent records. I love “Bad Old Days” with it’s country-ish Beatles crossover feel. And then the band delivers a nice melodic rock and roll ending with “Eleven Forty.” These guys are a real tuneful diamond in the rough.
Jangle is as much a state of mind as an actual character of sound. The Maureens, The Boys With The Perpetual Nervousness, The Well Wishers and The Embyros can all keep you in that state of musical non-suspended animation. Click on the band names and sign up for a direct hit today.
Guitars to the front of the line! Great poprock relies heavily on the guitar, particularly rhythm guitar. As Nick Lowe said recently, it’s supposed to rock and roll but there’s precious little appreciation of the roll part, which is harder to get right than it sounds. This week’s breaking news puts the guitar’s rhythm in its proper place.
On his new release, Things Were Better, When, Johnny Stanec increases the frenetic pace of his beat-oriented rock and roll with plenty of shimmering guitars and ‘ooh’ worthy background vocals. Rhythm guitar anchors this record on tracks like “Secret World” and the outstanding opening number, “You’re the Only One (Not a Love Song).” Harkening back to a mid-1980s indie guitar sound that bravely withstood the synth onslaught, songs like “I’m Fine, I Swear” and “If I’m Wrong” remind of mid-period Grapes of Wrath. This is guitar-driven poprock, par excellence. Stanec only pauses for breath on the wonderful mixed-tempo “The Things You Fear.” I thought “Don’t Know What To Do” from last year’s The Future of Nothing was pretty special but Stanec clearly has not come close to peaking yet. Forget the singles, Things Were Better, When is a worthy full album purchase.
There are considerable parts of The John Sally Ride new album Nothing Doing that sound like great lost songs from a Squeeze recording session circa 1982-3. “Embarrassingly Single” has a very Squeeze-like song structure with a vocal that is pure Glen Tilbrook while “Nothing Doing” just oozes the Deptford fun sound. Other tracks on the album rock things up a bit more with a Kinks-like rhythm guitar feel – see “Considered It Considered” and “All or Nothing.” But my personal fave is the lovely “You Wear Your Heart On Your Both Your Sleeves” with its seductive harmony vocals. The guys also work up a dopey, endearing dad sort of humour on tracks like “I Won’t Let Failure Go To My Head.” All in all, Nothing Doing is a stellar follow up 2017’s great A New Set of Downs.
Whoa Melodic is an anagram for Michael Woods, the creative force behind the one-man band of the same name. It’s also the name of the project’s debut release. This obvious playfulness is all over the compositions featured on the record, which range from the strummy poprock of “I Will Never Let You Down” to the chimey, addictive repetition of “To See You Again” to ambling-along-on-a-sunny-day fingerpicking on “Sprint Forward Fall Back.” Woods is expert at embedding catch-you-off guard ear worm quality hooks all over this record. I love the almost pumping lurch of “Hopeless and Lonely,” the delicate tenderness of “Ring Your Friends” but the album’s killer track for me is “Hit Me Where It Hurts” with hooky lead line opener, swing feel, and organ and harmonic shots. This record is the fun house hit parade, just a bit wonky and out of synch but delightful for it.
Weezer can’t seem to catch a break from the critics. They’re releasing too many albums, they complain. The records are too commercial, they say. Blah, blah, etc. I just can’t see it. This is a band with a distinctive delivery no matter the genre, trying out new directions, while continuing to write great songs. Here’s the proof – I can find a fabulous deep cut on every single Weezer long player.
Let’s start with the just released Weezer (Black Album). I think I like this one almost as much as Weezer (Blue Album) in terms of songwriting and general listenability. So many great songs here but, excluding hit singles, my fave deep cut is “Too Many Thoughts In My Head” with its soaring hook in the chorus. The Weezer (Teal Album) has taken a lot of flak for delivering a load of cover songs that mimic the originals a bit too well and I have to admit I do wish they had Weezer-ized all those hits more. But that’s why I love their version of “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).” Rivers is no Annie Lennox so his vocal gives the track an unmistakable Weezer vibe. 2017’s Pacific Daydream has the band feeling the beach love but also contains my absolute fave Weezer deep cut, “Any Friend of Diane’s.” Ear worm central! The song is like Weezer channeling a bit Sugar Ray. 2016’s Weezer (White Album) also mines the beach theme on various songs, though the campfire acoustic resonance of “Endless Bummer” is held in check by anti-summer sentiment. From 2014’s Everything Will Be Alright In The End I’ve chosen the power poppy “I’ve Had It Up To Here.”
2010 witnessed the band release two albums, Hurley and Death to False Metal, the latter a collection of unreleased leftover material from previous albums. From the former release, “Ruling Me” has a sneaky hook that slams home in the chorus with a rush of glorious melody while “Odd Couple” from DTFM chugs along with more subtle charms. 2009’s Raditude tempted me to go with “I’m Your Daddy” with its straight up pop hooks but the quasi-pop psychedelic “Love Is The Answer” ultimately won out with its fascinating Indian interlude and 1960s-worthy sing along chorus. From 2008’s Weezer (Red Album) I love the Brian Bell vocal and songwriting chops on “Thought I Knew.” The songs on 2005’s Make Believe were a bit overshadowed by the monster hit, “Beverly Hills,” but I think “The Damage In Your Heart” ranks with any of the best Weezer tunes. 2002’s Maladroit notched up the heaviness in Weezer’s sound but a sweet melody manages to define “Slave,” particularly in the chorus. My choice from 2001’s Weezer (Green Album) is technically not a deep cut. Well, actually, it was the album’s third single. But “Photograph” has such great woo hoos that I had to include it. From the band’s second album, 1996’s Pinkerton, I cheated a little and went for a cut from the deluxe edition, the exquisite “You Gave Your Love to Me Softly.”
Three more women whose towering talent took them some way through the testosterone-fueled music scenes of the 1970s through 1990s and beyond. It was a time of a few break out female rock and rollers, like Blondie’s Debbie Harry or Patti Smith or The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde. But to read women’s stories about getting discovered, getting signed to a label, getting into the recording the studio and on the road, it’s quickly becomes pretty clear that gender remained a defining element of their experience, different than men. We can hope that their stellar accomplishments have helped shift things a bit.
I think I first heard Mary Lou Lord on a CMJ CD sampler that used to accompany the magazine back in the nineties and I was hooked. I was pretty broke that decade, working my way through grad school, but I decided to splurge on 1998’s Got No Shadow and it was worth every penny. So many should-be hits! From the sweet seductive ‘na, na, na’s and exquisite jangle of “His Latest Flame” to the acoustic swing of “Western Union Desperate” to the killer poprock rollout on “Lights Are Changing” – I was only three songs in and felt I’d gotten my money’s worth. And then I heard “The Lucky One,” “She Had You,” and “Some Jingle Jangle Morning,” and it was pretty clear that MLL was a major talent, both as a songwriter and performer. And the wistful mellow vibe on “Two Boats” was pretty special. Since then Lord has really only released two more albums proper (of completely new material), 2004’s Baby Blue and 2015’s Backstreet Angels. The former is worth it just for “Cold Kilburn Rain” while the latter rivals her debut for songwriting strengths and folk-cum-poprock charming delivery. Highlights for me include “You Can Count On Me” with Joni Mitchell-esqe opening jangle, “By The Time My Head Gets to Phoenix,” and the obvious single “My Buddy Valentine.” But the whole record delivers.Western Union DesperateShe Had YouCold Kilburn Rain
Her staggering debut Exile in Guyville put a run on the superlative bank. It seemed hipster reviewers just couldn’t praise Liz Phair hard enough. And she deserved it. Personally I love “Help Me Mary” and “Johnny Sunshine.” Follow up records Whip Smart and Whitechocolatespaceegg got more hipster love, though perhaps at a lower volume, and more great songs like “Perfect World” and Johnny Feelgood.” But when Phair shifted gears into a more polished poprock direction on her self-titled Liz Phair album, the hipsters turned nasty. But I love it! It showcases her amazing range of talent and depth as a songwriter and performer. If this is being commercial, then more artists should aspire to it. Of course the song-factory record-company production-assembly-lines wish they could write songs this good. Opening track “Extraordinary” is, well, really really good. “Why Can’t I” is an obvious should-be hit single. But the rest of album has so many highlights: “Little Digger,” the naughty “H.W.C.,” “Friend of Mine,” and “Good Love Never Dies.” Since then Phair has released just two albums, 2005’s Somebody’s Miracle and 2010’s Funstyle, both chock full of great tunes like “Stars and Planets” and “Satisfied.” Hopefully an album of new material is somewhere in our near future.Johnny SunshineJohnny Feelgood
Filed under great lost gems is the entire catalogue of Robin Lane and the Chartbusters. Just three albums but they are pretty pure rock and roll bliss. There is something about what came together musically in the period between 1978 and 1981. Clearly spurred on by punk’s challenge to a vapid mainstream, rock and roll bands remade their sound, adding urgency, relevance, and tighter, guitar-centric sound. Robin Lane had already been working the rock and roll scene for more than a decade but what came together on her two Warner Brothers records was distinctive, original and could go toe to toe with any of the other women-led rock and roll bands of the period. The 1980 self-titled debut has so many great tracks: “When Things Go Wrong,” “Don’t Cry,” and “I Don’t Want to Know.” A year later Imitation Life kept the winning sound alive on tracks like “Pretty Mala” and “Idiot” (the latter featuring killer handclaps and jangly lead guitar). Then, nothing. For all the usual reasons the band broke up. But the 2003 reunion album Piece of Mind was perhaps their best yet with a surfeit of great tunes like “The Last One to Know,” “She Wants You Back,” and “In My World.” Lane’s singing here is stronger than ever. If you missed (like I did) the first time around, fear not. The band has a new hits album to get you caught up: Many Years Ago: The Complete Robin Lane and the Chartbusters Collection.